ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Momentum seemed to be on the Buffalo Bills' side.
They were returning home after a come-from-behind win over the Detroit Lions. Welcomed by a raucous crowd for the first time, newly minted owners Terry and Kim Pegula led a pregame huddle with players at midfield. And after all, the New England Patriots' stranglehold on the division was beginning to slip, right?
Not so fast.
As much as the Bills have closed the gap in their division by assembling a talented roster with pieces worth building around, they committed far too many mistakes in Sunday's 37-22 loss to the Patriots to signal a changing of the guard in the AFC East.
From safety Duke Williams' what-were-you-thinking pass interference penalty in the end zone, to Kyle Orton's telegraphed interception to Jamie Collins, to an all-too-easy 56-yard touchdown catch by New England's Brandon LaFell, the Bills (3-3) weren't ready to topple the team that has tormented them for more than a decade.
"You have to play a very good football game to beat them," coach Doug Marrone said. "They did, today, a very good job of not doing anything to beat themselves and [they] made plays. We did things to beat ourselves."
Beating themselves is exactly what the Bills did at the end of the first half, when they gift-wrapped three points and left them on the Patriots' doorstep.
With 14 seconds remaining in the first half, the Bills just needed to run out the clock and get to halftime. Instead, C.J. Spiller fumbled, the Patriots made one quick pass to move into field goal position and Stephen Gostkowski converted a 53-yard kick with ease to give New England (4-2) a 13-7 lead.
You can't rely on former Detroit kicker Alex Henery, who missed three field goals at the end of last week's win, to give you a chance. Whether Tom Brady is 37 or still in his prime at 27, it doesn't matter; he and the Patriots will make you pay for turnovers, and the Bills had three of them Sunday.
"If you turn the ball over three times and have over 100 yards in penalties it's going to be hard to beat anybody, especially a good team," running back Fred Jackson said. "They took advantage of it."
On Friday, Marrone called talk of Brady's demise "quite laughable." He was on the mark: In 22 games under Marrone, only one quarterback has posted a better quarterback rating against the Bills than Brady (139.6) did Sunday. That was Drew Brees, who hung a 146.1 rating on the Bills in a 35-17 New Orleans Saints win last season.
After completing 12 of 20 passes in the first half for 87 yards, Brady and the Patriots turned up the heat against the Bills' defense in the second half. Brady finished 27-for-37 for 361 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
There were some plays Sunday that the Bills simply couldn't stop. Brady exploited a mismatch on one third-quarter completion, for example, where he lofted a pass to Rob Gronkowski for a 33-yard gain over Duke Williams. Who on the Bills could have defended that pass?
Then there was Brian Tyms' 43-yard touchdown grab, a great throw from Brady and an even better catch from Tyms. Were safety Corey Graham and cornerback Stephon Gilmore in perfect position on the play? No, but they were competitive. You'll have to chalk that one up to Brady and his young receiver making a play.
Yet it's hard to explain away the Bills allowing 37 points. This defense just didn't look as stout as we had seen it through the first five games.
In four second-half possessions (excluding an end-of-game kneeldown), the Patriots scored each time. Three of those drives ended in touchdowns. The pass rush got to Brady at times -- he was sacked twice -- but the Bills' all-star defensive line can't do it all. The secondary -- including cornerback Leodis McKelvin -- blew it on LaFell's 56-yard fourth-quarter score.
"Poor performance in the second half," defensive end Jerry Hughes. "You've got to play a four-quarter game against Tom Brady, Hall of Fame quarterback."
Buffalo has now lost 26 of itS last 29 games to Brady and New England. That sort of dominance will one day come to an end, but that time has yet to arrive.
The Bills just aren't there yet.
"It was an opportunity to move into sole possession of the AFC East, so yeah there was definitely a missed opportunity there," Jackson said. "We didn't get the job done."
